Saving A Lady
by M-Angel 05
Summary: Two years have passed since Yona and Hak ran from Hiryuu Castle, rumors run rampant about the crimson haired Princess and her companions and not all of them are flattering. As Lady Lili defends her friend's honor she begins to gain the attention from the young Wind General. (Tae-woo/An Lili pairing)


Warmth shone down upon the city of Kuuto as the mid-morning sun began to reach it height in the sky. The city was alive with merchants selling their wears and people being drawn in to buy them because of something the merchant had said. From the way the city acted one would never know of the troubles that had occurred hear to a young red haired Princess name Yona two years prier. Where she'd been whisked off into the stormy night away from the murderous hands of her beloved cousin. Nor would anybody here no of her fate. How she'd never been seen again since the night of her sixteenth birthday. People still celebrated it in hopes that the naive but beautiful Princess would return though, by now, most believed she would not.

Inside the once cheery walls of the Red Dragon Keep, King Su-won sat listening to his councilors give him council on how to continue peaceful relations with their neighboring countries now that they posed no threat, for the moment. In the inner courts the Ladies in Waiting giggled and laughed at what rumors they had heard of the exiled Princess. How she supposedly slept in tents under the stars with a rag tag group of rough men. How low she must've fallen since being forced to leave the beautiful Hiryuu Castle. All knew how she use to chase after her cousin so it wasn't too much of a surprise to hear she was sleeping with six different men. Only not all of the ladies laughed at this, instead An Lili, daughter to General An Joon-gi did not laugh. She did not gossip about Princess Yona. She instead got angry that these women would say such things about her dear friend. So she defended her. She yelled at them. Saying they were disgracing themselves for thinking such things about Princess Yona especially after she'd risked to save Lili herself. She told them how she had helped get rid of the drug from the water tribe. That among those men was one named Hak, which gained a few gasps. She told how he had ensured the safety of the Princess, how they gained powerful allies through those other five men and much those men all respected the Princess. By the time she was done yelling at them she was red faced from her anger and they were red faced from embarrassment.

Those nearby had inadvertently listened as Lady Lili defended the missing Princess' honor, amongst them was General Son Tae-woo. In the two years since he last saw Lord Hak at the enemy fortress he had barely heard anything about him or his beloved Princess also known as Rina. He listened as this strange woman yelled at the ladies in the gardens and smirked as she spoke about the respect those men had for their Princess and that Hak protected her with honor. The more the young woman spoke the more Tae-woo liked her and the more he wanted to know about her.

So turning the corner towards the garden he spied the young woman speaking. Her heart shaped face, beautiful blue eyes; which were alight with a fire he'd never seen before, her dark blue hair cupped her face gently and he suddenly found it hard to swallow. She was beauty brought to life and he found that he wanted to know more about her. Who was she? Where did she come from? Most importantly, was she already given to someone? Never had he felt something for any girl in the wind tribe. He wanted to talk to her, but heart was already in his throat, his palms were sweaty and he couldn't spit out a single word at the moment. _Later._ He thought. Later he'd approach her when he could.

Later came that night. Tae-woo found himself seated next to her. An Lili was her name. A true noble lady if there ever was one. He asked of her interests. She spoke gently about normal, boring things that interested her. Where was the fire he'd seen earlier in the day? Where was her passion? He got upset as she sighed about General Lee Geun-tae. He reminded her that he was already married. Then she reminded him that the earth tribe leaders could have concubines. That made him want to shake her senseless and make her see that she could be so much more than a lowly concubine. She should be the lady of a household filled with her and her husbands children, not to share a man with another woman. A man who did not have eyes for her.

He left dinner unsatisfied that night.

* * *

A week went by and he did not speak with the young woman again. He left Hiryuu Castle and went home to Fuuga though on the way there he caught sight of travelers in a deep ravine. The red hair of the woman leading the group gave away who they were. The ever present Quandao spear gave away who her protesters were and this made Tae-woo smile. His Princess was alive and well; her hair longer now than it had been two years prier at the fortress he'd last seen her at. Lord Hak seeming to be the ever diligent protector he'd always been. The other four men were arguing with the fifth smaller man at the center of the group. He chuckled and kick his horses sides to get it to leave the location. From the corner of his eye he saw Lord Hak look towards him and smiled knowing he knew who he was. It would be a cold day in hell before Hak didn't know who his other family was.

Night fell quickly after that and with it came a storm. He rode his horse into a cave, took the blanket off it's back and tied it's reigns to a boulder before he set about to making a fire from the dried wood in the cave. It wasn't long before he heard footsteps. Turning around he saw the lightning light up the features of the two women that usually weren't seen without An Lili nearby.

"Help us!" The dark haired one cried.

"Lady Lili is trapped!" The other yelled as she grabbed his wrist.

He wasn't sure if they knew who he was or of they just were desperate to get help for their mistress. Either way he couldn't deny their cause and ran after them.

As it turned out Lady Lili was trapped in a cave that had suddenly saved it from a mudslide. The area was known for having them during the raining season. But that wasn't what was bad about the situation. The girls seemed to have found a cave that had a natural reservoir with a nice spring. However as it had rained the spring had risen and began to flood the cave. Now that the entrance was blocked, the water of the spring had nowhere to go and the Lady would soon drown if not saved soon.

"There were travelers not far back!" He yelled above the rain. "Go find them and get the men to come and help!"

They hadn't said anything before they'd run off. They were that desperate for help.

Lord Hak will help. I'm sure of it. He thought as he looked at the boulders and small rocks that covered the cave entrance. Water leaked from the inside through tiny cracks. He climbed over the rocks and boulders to the top and began to dig with both of his hands when he heard a sudden crack above him that shook the ground. Lightning and thunder went through the sky like a whip cracking in the night. The ground under him was not stable and suddenly he found himself falling down into a hole that had opened up on what he had thought was solid ground. He splashed into the cave below. He found Lady Lili grasping onto one of the stalagmites that usually hung from the cave ceiling.

"Lady Lili!" He called to her as he swam around the pointed rocks that hung from the ceiling. Her panicked eyes looked towards him as his voice reached her ears.

"General Tae-woo!" She cried out in both relief and fear.

She was scared, he could tell. Her eyes looked swollen from tears falling out of them. Her nose was red, as were her cheeks. Her teeth chattered because of the cold from the rising water.

"It's gonna be okay." He reassured her. He swam to her and pulled her arms around him as he navigated them through the rocks to were the hole in the ceiling was. He figured that if they stayed there, eventually they'd float to the top.

However as more time passed the more he began to believe that wouldn't happen. They didn't seem to be getting closer to the top. The rain still poured in from the hole but they had yet to get any closer to freedom. Her body shivered against his and he knew he was beginning to get cold himself. They just had to make it to morning, when the storm ended and they could see better. He didn't know how long he'd been wading in the water when he heard something drop into the water next to him.

A rope.

They were saved! He grabbed the rope but kept his arm wrapped around Lady Lili as she gave him no choice. She had a death grip on him. He tugged the rope after wrapping it around his free arm. They were pulled up from the water fill cave and brought to the semi stable ground. As he lifted his head he spotted his long time friend Han-dae with their elder Mundeok. He knew he shouldn't have been disappointed but couldn't help but wish it had been Lord Hak.

The girl's, along with the men, made their way back to Tae-woo's cave, An Lili refused to let go of her rescuer. Tae-woo ended up carrying her on his back as her legs had given out soon after they'd escaped the cave. She had given him an apologetic look that had caused him to smile lightly at her. After laying lady Lili down he found she still didn't want to let him go just yet, as she now had ahold of his hand. Sighing he sat down the ground and pulled her into his arms. Tucking her head under his chin he got himself comfortable for a long night.

About an hour after the girl's had fallen asleep Tae-woo heard Han-dae speak. "How did he know we'd be nearby?" He asked Mundeok.

"A leader always knows where his allies are." was the elders reply.

Problem was he hadn't known they were nearby he'd thought the girl's would find Lord Hak and his friends that he'd seen earlier in the day. _I suppose they've moved on._ He thought as he wrapped his arms around Lady Lili to give her warmth and comfort. She still shivered even now. He knew her dress was probably soaked, just like his clothes. _We'll worry about that later._ He thought as he allowed blissful sleep overtake his mind.

Off in the distance a figure stood with six others as they witnessed the heroine thing that had occurred. The dark figure looked to the short one next to him. "Let's go Hak." The woman's gentle voice broke through the sound of the falling rain.

"Yes Princess." said a deep voice as the seven figures vanished into the night.

* * *

 **M-Angel** : This is a one-shot story of these two. I may do another full length story later on. Not sure. Hope you enjoyed this little story! ^_^ Also, if you have a ship/couple request I do take those for my Miscellaneous stories on AO3! ^-^


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